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Parents who abuse drink and drugs may still be capable of looking after their
families, and politicians should not presume the children should be taken
away, according to Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People.

Tam Baillie also warned MSPs against making “easy assumptions” about the
lifestyles of substance users.

Holyrood’s Education and Culture Committee is looking at whether “general
assumptions” can be made about the fitness of some parents to care for their
children, particularly whether drug or alcohol misuse “would create a
presumption that a child should be removed”.

A programme, funded by the Wellcome Trust and called The Sick of the Fringe, will acknowledge that many entertainers who come to the city for the festivities face a month-long mental and physical ordeal